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THE 



HISTORY OF THE RAISING 




t 


OF 


THE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG 


THE CAPITOL OP MEXICO. 


PROCEEDINGS IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE. 




WASHINGTON : 
PRINTED BY C. WENDELL. 

] 856. 




% 



( ^ 



CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Proceedings in the Senate of the United States ... 3 

Report of the Committee on Military Affairs. 9 

General Quitman’s statement. 13 

Colonel Loring’s statement. 17 

Major Crittenden’s statement. 18 

Colonel Geary’s statement. 20 

Captain Lovell’s statement. 23 

Captain Naylor’s statement. 25 

Captain Naylor’s statement covering correspondence on Flag. 32 


fi 

!< 












THE AMERICAN FLAG IN MEXICO, 


IN THE SENATE OP THE UNITED STATES, 

On the Slst clay of I)ecemher, A. O. 18o5j Mr. Foot, Senator from 
Vermont, introduced, with some appropriate remarks, the following 
resolution, to wit: 

Resolved^ That the report of Benjamin S, Roberts, captain of the rifles, made to General 
T^vviggs, on returning to him the American flag which had been the first planted upon the 
Capitol of Mexico, and which he had intrusted to the keeping of Captain Roberts in the storm¬ 
ing of Chepultepec, and the taking of the city of Mexico, bearing date “ City of Mexico, 
17th September, 1847,” be taken from the files in the office of the secretary of the Senate, and 
be printed ; and that the president pro tempore of the Senate cause an engrossed copy thereof 
to be deposited in the Department of State with the flag whose history it gives, and which 
has already been deposited in said department by order of the Senate. 

Mr. Foot moved to refer the resolution to the committee on military 
affairs. 

Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, expressing a wish to make some remarks 
on the subject, the motion was laid over until the 7th day of Janu¬ 
ary, 1856, when the following proceedings took place on the subject: 

COLONEL BENJAMIN S. ROBERTS. 

Mr. FOOT. I ask the Senate now to proceed to the consideration 
of the resolution which I introduced this day week, in reference to 
Colonel Eoherts. I understand that the senator from Mississippi (Mr. 
Brown) desires to submit some remarks upon it before it shall be re¬ 
ferred to the committee on military affairs, that being the motion now 
pending. 1 also introduced, at the same time, a joint resolution to 
request the President to cause a sword, with suitable devices, to be 
presented to Colonel Eoherts, in testimony of the high sense enter¬ 
tained by Congress of his gallantry and good conduct at the storming 
of Chepultepec and the taking of the city of Mexico ; but, inasmuch 
as the Senate are acting upon a determination not to receive bills or 
resolutions, requiring the co-ordinate action of the other House, until 
that branch of Congress shall be organized, that joint resolution is 
withdrawn for the time being. 

The motion was agreed to, and the Senate resumed the consideration 
of the following resolution : 

Resolved, That the report of Benjamin S. Roberts, captain of the rifles, made to General 
Twiggs, on returning to him the American flag which had been the first planted upon the 
Capitol of Mexico, and which he had intrusted to the keeping of Captain Roberts in the storm¬ 
ing of Chepultepec, and the taking of the city of Mexico, bearing date “ city of Mexico, 
17th September, 1847,” be taken from the files in the office of the secretary of the Senate, and 
be printed ; and that the President pro tempore of the Senate cause an engrossed copy thereof 
to be deposited in the Department of State with the flag whose history it gives, and which 
has already been deposited in said department by order of the Senate. 

The pending question was on Mr. Foot’s motion to refer the resolu¬ 
tion to the Committee on Military Affairs. 



4 


PROCEEDINGS IN THE 


Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, it will be recollected by the older 
members of this body that the flag mentioned in the resolution was 
introduced into the Senate on the second of June, 1848, by Mr. 
Davis, then Senator from Mississippi, and now Secretary of War. On 
the 1st of July of that year, as is shown by the journal, he presented 
a document in relation to that flag. The document then presented is 
the one which is now called for from the files by the Senator from 
Vermont. On the introduction of that document, as is shown by the 
debates in Congress, a discussion arose in the Senate between Mr. 
Davis and Mr. Foote, of Mississippi, which the curious on that sub¬ 
ject may find at page 890 of the Congressional Globe of that year. I 
shall not detain the Senate by reading it: it is sufficient for me to re¬ 
mark that Senator Foot thought that, in the paper which was then 
presented, injustice was done to Major General Quitman, who com¬ 
manded the forces under whom, and at the head of whom, the first 
flag was placed upon the capitol of Mexico. The paper which is 
offered does not disclose the fact that General Quitman was in the 
action at all, had anything to do with the command, or gave any 
orders which led to the planting of that flag upon the wall of Mexico. 
Because of this unintentional injustice—I am willing to admit that 
it is unintentional—to the major general commanding the forces, 
Senators at that day objected to having this paper placed upon the 
files of the State Department, as giving the correct history of the 
transaction. It is noted in the debates that an angry controversy 
arose in reference to it. That portion of the debates has been sup¬ 
pressed, and very properly suppressed, in my judgment. 

As I intend to make the paper part of my remarks—I mean the 
one alluded to by the Senator from Vermont, which he desires to have 
printed, and enrolled on parchment, and filed in the State Depart¬ 
ment—I send it to the Secretary’s desk, and ask to have it read. 

The Secretary read it, as follows: 


City of Mexico, September 17, 1847. 

Sir: I have the honor to return the American flag you intrusted to my keeping in the 
storming of Chepultepec and the taking of the city of Mexico. Your charge to me was. “ I 
expect that fiag to be the first planted upon the capitol of Mexico.” The commission has 
been executed, and the first American flag that ever floated upon the palace of the capitol of 
Mexico is now returned to you. 

It was also the first planted on the five-gun battery, stormed and carried by my assaulting 
party at the left of the enemy’s lines at Chepultepec. ° 

It was also the Jirsf planted on the battery stormed and carried by the rifle regiment, 
between Chepultepec and the Garita. 

It was also the first planted on the batteries at the Garita, and the first on the citadel of 
the city. 

R was carried by Sergeant Manly, of “ F ” company, whom I selected to bear so distin¬ 
guished a flag, and the anticipations I entertained of his doing honor to the banner of his 
country were not disappointed. I desire to commend him to your special consideration. 

This flag would have been returned through him, but for a severe wound which confines 
him to his quarters. It is proper that I should state that I was not with the flag when planted 
on the battery at the Garita, and when planted on the battery between the Garita and the 
city, having been detained to guard the prisoners taken at the five-gun battery assaulted by 
my storming party. On inspection you will perceive that this flag has been pierced six times 
by the balls of the enemy. 

I have the honor to be, with high regard, &c., 

B. S. ROBERTS, 

General D,. E. Tw.oos, Captain Rifle,. 

Commanding Second Division. 


UNITED STATES SENATE. 


5 


Mr. BKOWN. Mr. President, it will be seen, from tlie reading of 
that letter, that I was correct in saying that it makes no mention 
whatever of Major General Quitman. Captain Roberts seems to have 
received this flag from General Twiggs, who was not in command at 
the time when this service was performed. It will be further remarked, 
that Captain Roberts states in his dispatch that the flag was ^Rhe first 
planted on the five-gun battery stormed and carried by the rifle regi¬ 
ment between Chepultepec and the Garita.” He also says that it was 
^Ghe first planted on the batteries at the Garita, and the first on the 
citadel of Mexico.’' He afterwards remarks, however— 

“ It is proper that I should state that I wfs not with the flag when planted on the battery 
at the Garita, and when planted on the battery between the Garita and the city.” 

If Colonel Roberts was not present, the history of the transaction 
ought to state how he came in possession of the fact, that this precise 
flag was the first raised at those two points, for he admits himself not 
to have been personally present, and, therefore, he must have derived 
his information from some other quarter. Out of that has grown 
some controversy in which I do not wish to entangle myself; but it is 
better, when we are settling a transaction of this sort, in which the 
reputation of gentlemen who have rendered distinguished services to 
the country is somewhat involved, to turn our attention to the report 
of the general-in-chief. I ask that the committee who shall have this 
question in charge will turn their attention to Major General Scott’s 
report, dated ^^Headquarters of the army, National Palace of Mexico, 
September 18, 1847,” to be found in the first volume of Senate docu¬ 
ments, first session Thirtieth Congress, 1847 and 1848, beginning at 
page 375. From that paper it will be seen that the general-in-chief, 
after giving an account of certain consultations between officers of the 
army, and stating the views expressed by them, says: 

“ Those views I repeatedly in the course of the day communicated to Major General Quit- 
man ; but being in hot pursuit—gallant himself and ably supported by Brigadier Generals 
Shields and Smith—Shields badly wounded before Chepultepec and refusing to retire—as 
w'ell as by all the officers and men of the column, Quitman continued to press forward under 
flank and direct fires ; carried an intermediate battery of two guns, and then the gate, before 
two o’clock in the afternoon, but not without proportionate loss, increased by his steady 
maintenance of that position.” 

After giving some further account of the day’s transactions, he 
says: 

“ Quitman within the city, adding several defences to the position he had won, and shel¬ 
tering his corps as well as practicable, now awaited the result of daylight under the guns of 
the formidable citadel, yet to be subdued.” 

After the whole fighting was over. General Scott gives an account 
of a visit of a deputation of the city—the city council—who waited 
upon him for the purpose of surrendering the city on terms which he 
promptly rejected, and insisted upon taking it upon his own terms. 
After the interview, he says: 

“ At the termination of the interview with the city deputation, I communicated, about 
daylight, orders to Worth and Quitman to advance slov/ly and cautiously (to guard against 
treachery) towards the heart of the city, and to occupy its stronger and more commanding 
points. Quitman proceeded to the great plaza or square, planted guards, and hoisted the colors of 
the United States on the national palace, containing the halls of Congress and executive de¬ 
partments of federal Mexico.” 

Now, sir, when it is proposed to do honor to national flags because 
they were first planted upon the walls of Mexico, I do not choose that 


6 


•PROCEEDINGS IN THE 


tlie name of the major general in command, especially when that 
major general is a distinguished citizen of my own State, shall be 
wliolly omitted from tlie record without some effort on my part, as his 
representative in this hody^ to see justice done him. I am as willing 
as the Senator from Vermont to award all possible honors to Captain 
Hoberts, but I will never consent to see the honors of the nation be¬ 
stowed upon a captain in the line to the exclusion of his major gen¬ 
eral; and especially when, in doing honor to that captain, for alight 
that appears on the paper, Major General Twiggs, who was not in the 
field at all upon that occasion, is represented as the general who gave 
the order to bear the flag. Sir, the man who in after years shall ex¬ 
amine the archives of the State Department and find this paper there, 
if he knew nothing else of the transaction, would be very apt to con¬ 
clude that Major General Twiggs was in command, and that Major 
General Quitman was not in the field at all, whereas the reverse vas 
the case. 

I hope that the committee who shall have this question in charge 
will sift it to the bottom. Let Captain (now Colonel) Koberts have all 
the honor that is due to him. Heaven knows I would not pluck a 
solitary leaf from the laurel that adorns his brow. That he is a gallant 
soldier, I am perfectly willing and ready to admit. That he exposed 
his person and endangered his life in defence of his country I am as 
ready to acknowledge as the Senator from Vermont. But I am not 
willing to admit that he planted the first flag that was ever placed 
upon the walls of Mexico, and did it of his own will—or by the order 
•of Major General Twiggs. 

Sir, I have here a letter to which these squabbles gave rise when 
this question was up before. It is a letter written by Captain Koberts 
himself, dated St. Louis, Missouri, July 12, 1848. I send it to the 
Secretary’s desk, and ask to have it read. I present this letter as the 
true history of the transaction rather than the one which is found on 
the files, and which my friend from Vermont proposes to honor. 
Although it does not, I think, come up to the history of the transac¬ 
tion as detailed by Major General Scott, the general-in-chief, it does 
make honorable mention of General Quitman, who was in command. 

The Secretary read the letter as follows : 


St. Louis, Missouri, Julxj 12, 1848. 

To the Editor of the Union: 

I have noticed, through the Washington correspondent of the Journal of Commerce, of 
date July 1st, giving the debate in the Senate of that day, that misunderstandings, out of 
which difficulties may grow, have arisen between the friends of Generals Twiggs and Quit- 
man touching the fag presented by General Twiggs to Congress. It may be proper before 
mischief can arise, or these misunderstandings grow further, to correct the errors that seem 
to be entertained relating to the history of this flag. I knoio its entire history. It is as fol¬ 
lows: 

On the 12th of September General Smith called for two hundred and fifty picked men from 
General Twigg’s division, as a storming party for the assault of Chepultepec. I was selected 
by General Smith to command the party from his brigade, and, after the party was organ¬ 
ized, was taken by him to General Twiggs’ headquarters, where was this flag, which Gene¬ 
ral Twiggs gave to me, saying in substance, among other things, “ This is a flag I wish to 
go with the storming party from my division. Let me hear that it is the first flag on Che¬ 
pultepec, in the city, and on the capitol.” Six non-commissioned officers and privates were 
selected from the rifle regiment to bear this flag at the head of the storming column. 

The storming party from this division (commanded by Captain Casey, second infantry) 
yepor-ted to General Scott at Tacubaya before sundown, and was assigned to the com- 


UNITED STATES SENATE. 


1 


mand of General Quitman ; and from that time until the flag was raised upon the capitol it 
was under his control, and all the movements of the storming party carrying it were under 
his eye and directions. 

This storming party stormed and carried the strong five-gun battery commanding the 
Tacubaya road at the base of the hill in the rear of Chepultepec, and this flag loas the first 
planted on that battery. It was also the first flag planted on the strong battery midwav on the 
road between Chepultepec and the Garita of Belen, which was stormed and carried by the 
rifle regiment, supported by the South Carolina regiment. It was also the first flag planted 
on the Garita of Belen, which work was also stormed by tlie rifle regiment, supported by 
General Smith’s entire brigade and General Quitman’s entire division. The storming of 
these three batteries was directed by General (luitman in person, with the assistance and 
support of General Smith. 

The fighting of the 13th ended with the day ; and at daylight next morning. General 
Quitman formed his division, (General Smith’s brigade in front,) and entered the city. He 
took possession of the citadel; and by his order, delivered tome through General Smith, this 
flag was raised above that mighty fortress. The division advanced, led by Generals Quit- 
man and Smith on foot, and took possession of the Capitol, when this flag, by the order of 
General Quitman delivered to me by a staff-officer, was raised, displaying the first Jlmfrican 
banner above the National Palace of Mexico. This is the entire history of the flag. I un¬ 
derstood it to be the property of General Twiggs, and at his request returned it to him with 
my written report. It was borne in these actions by troops of his division, detached from 
his immediate command, and placed under the orders of General Quitman. 

If this flag is to become of any historical interest, its history should be truly told ; and if 
any merit is supposed to attach to the fortune or accident of raising the first flag upon the 
Capitol of Mexico, it is just to General Quitman to have it known it was done by troops he 
commanded in person and under his orders. 

I am, sir, very truly yours, B. S. ROBERTS, Captain Rifles. 

Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, if that had been the report which 
it was proposed to print by order of Congress, and to transcribe on 
parchment and file in the State Department, as containing the true 
history of this flag, there would probably have been no controversy 
about it. Here Captain Roberts again repeats that it was the first flag 
planted at three different points, but he admits himselt not to have 
been at two of them. He omits to mention how he came into posses¬ 
sion of the knowledge of those facts, but they are yet of sufficient 
consequence to have given rise to controversy, and there is difference 
of opinion as to whether it was the first flag planted on these points. 
To that matter I beg to call the attention of the committee, when they 
shall take this subject into consideration. I desire that the letter 
which has just been read by the Secretary, at my request, shall go to 
the committee, and shall be considered liy them in connexion with 
this subject. 

With these remarks, I am Avilling to let the subject go to the com- • 
mittee. If credit is due to General Quitman, I v/ant him to have it. 
If it is not due to him, I know he would scorn to take it. And now, 
it is but just to him to say that, though he is a member of the House 
of Representatives, I have not made these remarks at his request, nor 
by his solicitation, nor even with his knowledge ; but his reputation 
belongs to the State of Mississippi, and, as one of her Senators here, I 
have felt bound to protect it. 

Mr. FOOT. Mr. President, I do not intend to prolong this dis¬ 
cussion in anticipation of the action of the Committee^ on Military 
Affairs—a very proper tribunal to investigate any question that may 
arise between conflicting claimants for the honor of being concerned 
in planting the first national flag of the United States on the palace 
walls of Mexico. It will be recollected that upon the introduction of 
tlie resolution, so far from calling for the action of the Senate upon it, 

I accompanied it with a motion to refer it to tlie appropriate com- 


8 PROCEEDINGS IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE. 

mittee, the Commitee on Military Affairs, for tlieir investigation and re¬ 
port. It is proper, perhaps, that I should say that at the time of the in¬ 
troduction of the resolution I was not apprised of the existence of con¬ 
flicting claims to this honor. I knew that by the order of the Senate the 
flag had been deposited in the archives of the State Department. I 
knew that it had been presented to the Senate by the present head of 
the War Department, Mr. Davis, then a member of this body from 
the State of Mississippi. I knew that he had received it from Gen¬ 
eral Twiggs, and that Colonel Koherts, then captain of the rifles, 
had returned it to General Twiggs, from whom he received it, giving 
its history so far forth as it is given in that report. I stated the his¬ 
tory of the flag to the Senate as disclosed in the documents appended 
to the few remarks which I submitted the other day, among which are 
extracts from the report of General Quitman, in which he himself ap¬ 
pears to have placed Colonel Eoberts at the head of the storming 
party under whom that flag was first raised upon the walls of Mexico, 
but undoubtedly by the direction of General Quitman at the time; 
and therein there is no controversy between the parties in respect to 
the exactness of the transaction as it occurred, in my judgment; but, if 
there are any points of controversy between these or other parties, 
claimants to this honor, it is preeminently proper that the matter 
should undergo the proposed examination by the Committee on Mil¬ 
itary Affairs. 

It is proper that I should add further, that if there be any implied 
or inferential injustice done to General Quitman in the report of 
Colonel Eoberts, by the omission of the mention of his name in these 
transactions, it is, in my judgment, altogether unintentional and ac¬ 
cidental on his part; for I say what I know when I declare that no 
man in this country entertains for the personal and public character 
of General Quitman as a citizen, as a general, and as a hero, higher 
esteem than Colonel Eoberts himself. His claim to the honor of hav¬ 
ing, by his own hand, first raised the national flag upon the palace 
walls of Mexico, rests mainly upon the testimony of General Quit- 
man himself. 

The motion to refer the resolution to the Committee on Military 
Affairs was agreed to. 


34th Congress, ) SENATE. c Eep. Com. 

1st Session. J ) ]^o. 32. 


On the 6th March, Mr. Weller, of California, Chairman of the 
Senate Committee on Military Affairs, made the following report: 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITEH STATES. 


March 6, 1856.—Ordered to be printed. 


Mr. Weller made the following (adverse) 

REPORT. 


[To accompany Joint Resolution S. No. 1.] 

The Committee on Military Affairs make the folloioing report: 

On the 7th of January last there was referred to this committee a 
resolution of the Senate, as follows: 

Resolved, That the report of Benjamin S. Roberts, captain of the 
rifles, made to General Twiggs, on returning to him the American 
flag which had been the first planted upon the capitol of Mexico, and 
which he had intrusted to the keeping of Captain Roberts in the 
storming of Chepultepec, and the taking of the city of Mexico, bear¬ 
ing date City of Mexico, 17th September, 1847,’’ be taken from the 
files in the office of the Secretary of the Senate, and be printed; and 
that the President pro tempore of the Senate cause an engrossed copy 
thereof to be deposited in the Department of State with the flag whose 
history it gives, and which has already been deposited in said dejjart- 
ment by order of the Senate. 

And on the 4th February last the following joint resolution (S. R. 
No. 1) was also referred to this committee: 

^ ^ Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress asse^nbled, That the President of the 
United States be requested to cause a sword, with suitable devices, to 
be presented to Colonel Benjamin S. Roberts, in testimony of the high 
sense entertained by Congress of his gallantry and good conduct at 
the storming of Chepultepec and in the taking of the city of Mexico.” 

After the unsuccessful bombardment of Chepultepec, on September 
12, 1847, the general-in-chief (Major General Scott) determined to 
storm the works on the succeeding day. A detail was accordingly 
made from the commands of Major Generals Quitman and Pillow. 
Captain (now Colonel) Benj. S. Roberts, of the rifles, was placed at 
the head of the storming party detailed from General Smith’s brigade. 
When they were about to start on their perilous mission, a stand of 
national colors was placed, by General Twiggs, in Colonel Robert’s 
hands with the charge, ''I expect this flag to be the first planted 
upon the capitol of Mexico.” This flag, under the direction of Cap¬ 
tain Roberts, was borne bv Sergeant Manly of the rifles, and it is 
2 










10 


REPORT. 


alleged to have been the first flag displayed at the five-gun battery, 
(at the base of Chepultepec,) to have been the first planted upon 
the four-gun battery, (between Chepultepee and the Garita de Belen,) 
to have been the first on the batteries of the Garita; first upon the 
citadel of Mexico, and ^Ghe first American flag that ever floated upon 
the palace of the Mexican capitol/' 

Captain Koherts subsequently returned this flag to General Twiggs 
with the following letter: 


City of Mexico, Septemher 17, 1847. 

Sir : I have the honor to return the American flag you intrusted to 
my keeping in the storming of Chepultepec and the taking of the city 
of Mexico. Your charge to me was: expect that flag to he the 

first planted upon the capitol of Mexico.” The commission has been 
executed, and the first American flag that ever floated upon the palace 
of the capitol of Mexico is now returned to you. 

It was also the first planted on the five-gun battery, stormed and 
carried by my assaulting party at the left of the enemies lines at 
Chepultepec. 

It was also the fl.rst planted on the battery, stormed and carried by 
the rifle regiment, between Chepultepec and the Garita. 

It was also the first planted on the batteries at the Garita, and the 
first on the citadel of the city. 

It was carried by Sergeant Manly, of company, whom I se¬ 
lected to bear so distinguished a flag, and the anticipations I enter¬ 
tained of his doing honor to the banner of his country were not 
disappointed. I desire to commend him to your special consideration. 

This flag would have been returned through him, but for a severe 
wound which confines him to his quarters. It is proper that I should 
state that I vv^as not with the flag when planted on the battery at the 
Garita, and when planted on the battery between the Garita and the 
city, having been detained to guard the prisoners taken at the five- 
gun battery assaulted by my storming party. On inspection, you will 
perceive that this flag has been pierced six times by the balls of the 
enemy. 

I have the honor to be, with high regard, &c., 

B. S. ROBERTS, 

Cap)ta{n llifles. 

General D. E. Twiggs, 

Commanding Second Division. 


On the 2d of June, 1848, this flag was presented by Senator Davis, 
of Mississippi, in the name of General Twiggs, to Congress, and it 
was ordered to be deposited in the Department of State. On the 1st 
of July, 1848, the letter of Captain Roberts, given above, was pre¬ 
sented to the Senate and laid upon the table. 

The resolution now submitted proposes to engross that letter on 
parchment, with a view to its being filed with the flag in tlie State 
Department. 

The committee have maturely examined this subject, and are satis¬ 
fied that Captain Roberts has fallen into some errors in stating the 
history of this flag. 


REPORT. 


11 


In order to ascertain tlie facts in the case, the committee called 
upon some of the principal officers who were engaged with the army 
at the points named in the letter, and all of them deny having seen 
this flag displayed at the four-gun battery, or at the Garita de Belen, 
or on the citadel. The only flag raised at the Garita de Belen was 
that of the Palmetto regiment, and it *was tliere displayed under the 
personal order of General Quitman, hy Lieutenant Selleck (who was 
severely wounded in doing so) of the South Carolina regiment. 

On the morning of the 14th September, the rifles were placed in 
advance and moved towards the city. From the statements of General 
Quitman and Major Crittenden, it appears that the regimental colors 
were displayed on the citadel during a short halt. Colonel Geary 
was directed hy General Quitman to occupy the citadel, over which 
he hoisted the colors of one of the companies of his regiment, while 
the column moved on to the heart of the city. 

In regard to the hoisting of the flag at the Grand Plaza, the com¬ 
mittee refer to the statement of General Quitman. Although a regi¬ 
mental flag had been displayed from the window of the palace for a 
moment, it is undeniable that Captain Koherts, under the immediate 
orders of General Quitman, was the first to display our national em¬ 
blem from the stalf upon the Mexican capitol. 

It is due to Captain Koherts to say that he does not pretend to have 
been with the flag after the fall of the five-gun battery, until it had 
passed the gates of the city. 

A portion of his letter was, therefore, based upon information re¬ 
ceived from others, which the committee believe to be erroneous. 

Tlie committee do not regard the letter of Captain Koherts as por¬ 
traying such, a history of that flag as ought to be engrossed in the 
manner proposed by the resolution. 

The letter, however, with the statements of distinguished officers, 
will now be published, and will become a part of our national ar¬ 
chives. Those who, in after years, look upon the flag and desire to 
know the incidents connected with it, can turn to these statements, 
and to that history wliicli records the deeds of our gallant countrymen 
in the valley of Mexico, and obtain perhaps much more satisfactory 
information than this letter could afford. 

In regard to the joint resolution, which proposes to give a sword to 
Captain Koherts, the committee are also constrained, by a sense of 
justice to other gallant and equally meritorious' men, to report ad¬ 
versely to it. 

That Captain Koherts displayed great gallantry in the several con¬ 
tests in which he was engaged with the storming party on the 13th 
September is beyond question, and full credit was given to him in the 
official report of his superior officers ; and Ids conduct has been duly 
appreciated and acknowledged by Congress by conferring upon him 
two brevets, major and lieutenant colonel. 

In the attack upon the five-gun battery he was the third in com¬ 
mand, although he was at the head of the advance company. Cap¬ 
tain Casey of the ‘2d infantry commanded the storming party after 
its organization, and fell severely wounded. Captain Paul succeeded 
to the command, and there is no reason to induce Congress to discri¬ 
minate between these officers and Captain Koherts. 


12 


REPORT. 


One of the hardest fought battles was at Garita de Belen, in which 
the gallant commander of the rifles (Colonel Loring) lost an arm. 
Captain Koherts was not in'this assault, having been left, as he states, 
at the flve-gun battery to guard the prisoners detained at that point. 

The series of battles fought iii 4he immediate vicinity of the city of 
Mexico terminated by the withdrawal of the Mexican troops on the 
night of the 13th of September. On the morning of the 14th our 
army marched into the city without resistance, and then, as before 
stated, our national flag was hoisted over the Mexican capitol. As 
the firing on both sides had ceased some hours previously, there was 
neither danger to encounter nor personal risk to run in performing 
this duty, honorable as it certainly was, but by no means so hazardous 
as to deserve the especial commendation of Congress. When field and 
company officers vied with each other in deeds of heroism and valor, 
it would be unjust to discriminate between them. The names of all 
these brave men will occupy the brightest page in our country’s his¬ 
tory, and, with their daring exploits, will be treasured up by the 
American peojDle. 

The only officers in the Mexican war to whom swords have been 
presented by Congress are Generals Taylor, Quitman, Worth, Twiggs, 
Butler, Henderson, Wool, and Hamer. None of these officers held 
rank below brigadier general. 

The committee, anxious to investigate this subject as fully as possi¬ 
ble, called upon officers who were in the field and in positions which 
enabled them to observe all that transpired, for written statements, 
which they have very kindly furnished, and which, in justice to all 
concerned, the committee append hereto, as a part of this report, as 
constituting the most reliable history of the American flag in Mexico; 
and the committee ask to be discharged from the further consideration 
of the subject. 

For correct information as to the relative position of the places re¬ 
ferred to in these reports, see Ex. Hoc. No. 1,1st session 30th Congress, 
and the map accompanying General Quitmiin’s official report, at page 
408. 


Washington, February 9, 1856. 

Sir ; I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a note from 
your clerk, enclosing a copy of a proposed resolution, submitted to the 
consideration of that committee, and also enclosing a copy of a letter 
from Colonel B. S. Eoberts, of the rifles, to General Twiggs, dated 
city of Mexico, September 17,1847, in relation to the first flag planted 
on the five-gun battery at the base of Chepultepec, the battery be¬ 
tween that fortress and the gates of Mexico, the batteries at the Garita 
or gate Belen, the citadel, and lastly the Capitol of Mexico, and re¬ 
questing such information as I may possess in regard to these matters. 

As the commander of that portion of the army, in Mexico, which 
stormed and carried these batteries on the 13th September, 1847, and 
on the following day planted the flag of our country first on the cit¬ 
adel, and finally on the national palace of Mexico, 1 feel it my duty 



GENERAL QUITMAN’S STATEMENT. 13 

to fiiniisli the committee with such facts, within my own knowledge, 
as may appear to he within your inquiry. 

A simple narrative will, perhaps, best meet your views ; but to 
avoid repetition and unnecessary explanations, I beg leave to refer 
the committee, as a part of my ans^^er, to my official report of the 
operations of that portion 94 ^he jarmy under my command, at the time 
of the memorable occurrences alluded to. This report is to he found 
in vol. 2, Ex. Doc., 1st sess. 30th Cong., page 409 to 420 ; also, to 
Generals Smith's and Shields’ reports to me, page 223 to 228, of same 
volume ; and to enable the committee to comprehend the points refer¬ 
red to in Colonel Eoherts’ statement, and also in this narrative, I 
refer them to the descriptive plan drawn by Lieutenant Tower, engi¬ 
neers, which accompanies my official report. 

After the bombardment of the strong fortress of Chepultepec during 
the whole day of the 12th September, 1841, General Scott determined 
to carry that work by storm on the following morning. 

General Pillow was directed, with his division, to assault on the 
west, and I was ordered to storm it on the south side. To stengthen 
my column of attack, a battalion of two hundred and fifty men and 
thirteeen officers, who had volunteered for this desperate service, 
reported to me from General Twiggs’ division. This temporary bat¬ 
talion of stormers, under command of Captain Casey, second infantry, 
though irregularly organized, carried with them a small stand of 
American colors, the property of General Twiggs, which it appears 
Captain (now Colonel) Roberts had received from his hands for this 
temporary purpose. This battalion of regulars, with a similarly raised 
corps of stormers from my own, the volunteer division, under com¬ 
mand of Major Levi Twiggs, of the marines, acompanied by a pioneer 
corps of seventy men, under Captain Reynolds, hearing ladders, crows, 
and pickaxes, were on the morning of the 13th placed by me at the 
head of the column of attack upon the fortress of Chepultepec. These 
storming parties were supported by the battalion of marines, under com¬ 
mand of Lieutenant Colonel Watson. The remainder of my division 
proper, consisting of the South Carolina and New York regiments, 
under General Shields, and the second Pennsylvania regiment, (Colonel 
Geary,) having been directed to scale the walls on the left, and General 
Smith’s brigade, which had been placed under my command, having 
been posted on the right to protect the column of attack from a large 
body of the enemy who threatened our right fiank, the storming par¬ 
ties were ordered to advance against the five-gun battery at the base of 
the hill, where the aqueduct joins the wall, (A on the plan.) 

These works, though defended with great obstinacy by some of the 
best Mexican troops, under their veteran General Bravo, were gal¬ 
lantly carried. Major Twiggs was here killed and Captain Casey 
severely wounded. These casualties devolved the command upon 
Captain Paul, seventh infantry, as senior officer, Captain Roberts, of 
the rifles, being second in command of the stormers, and leading the 
advanced company. The conduct of both these officers fell under my 
immediate observation, and deserved the high commendation which I 
have bestowed in my official report. The flag referred to did not at¬ 
tract my particular attention, but I have no doubt it was the first car- 


14 


GENERAL QUITMAN’S STATEMENT. 

ried over that battery, although no flag was strictly planted there, the 
troops moving on so soon as the works were carried. 

As it is not contended that the flag in question was carried up the 
hill, I pass over the fall of the strong fortress of Chepultepee, which 
soon succeeded the capture of the batteries. 

Having the preceding night received discretionary powers from.the 
general-in-chief, and being firmly convinced in my own mind that the 
fate of our gallant little army in the valley of Mexico, depended upon 
the speedy capture of the enemy’s capitol, I determined to move the 
whole column then under my command, directly on the city, by tlie 
Taciibaya causeway, leading through the Garita Belen into Mexico. 

The rifle regiment, commanded by Major Loring, was accordingly 
prolonged on that road towards the city, and so soon as the other regi¬ 
ments could be resui3plied with ammunition, which had been expended 
in the assault of Chepultepec, they were rapidly advanced in the same 
direction. 

Before us on the causeway was a battery of four guns, (B.) This 
work, defended vigorously by a considerable Mexican force, was gal¬ 
lantly carried by the rifle regiment, with the aid of a captured 8-inch 
howitzer, served by the lamented Captain Drum, 4th artillery, w^ho 
fell at the Garita. The standard of the rifles, and I presume also the 
flag in question, passed through that work, but I saw no colors planted 
there. 

There was still before us tlie Garita, (Belen,) or gate of the city, 
(C,) itself a strong work, with parapet and ditch on one side of the 
aqueduct, and a zigzag redan on the other, defended not only by the 
formidable citadel of Mexico, (D,) but by batteries at the gate (C) 
on the Paseo (H) and at the entrance of a street, (I.) These various 
works mounted 24 pieces of artillery besides several movable, and 
were defended by a very large Mexican force. My whole command 
then consisted of Shield’s brigade, (volunteers,) Smith’s brigade, 2d 
Pennsylvania regiment, (Colonel Geary,) Marine battalion, 9th regi¬ 
ment (Major Seymour) of Pierce’s brigade, part of 6th regiment of 
infantry, (Major Bonneville,) and a detachment of 4th artillery under 
Captain Drum. 

On the reorganization of the column at this point, about three- 
quarters of a mile from the city, the rifles and South Carolina regi¬ 
ments were placed in lead of the column, followed by the remainder 
of the volunteer division and Smith's brigade, in the order mentioned 
in my official report. The flag referred to may have been with the 
column. I saw but the regular colors of the two leading regiments. 

Thus re-formed and prepared, this stern and resolute column ad¬ 
vanced to the severe duty before them. Soiled with dust and smoke, 
and begrimed with blood, the officers on foot with the men, they 
moved on to the charge with banners furled, and no music but the 
roar of cannon and the rattling roll of small arms. 

Within two hundred yards of the Garita, Major Loring, the gal¬ 
lant commander of the rifles, being severely wounded, the command 
of that regiment devolved on Captain, [now Major] Crittenden, as the 
senior officer present; Captain Simonson, who was there, as elsewhere, 
at the head of the column, having commanded for a short time. In 


GENERAL QUITMAN’S STATEMENT. ** 


16 


this last bloody and decisive charge Captain Koherts did not partici¬ 
pate, having been detained at Chepultepec. The Garita was taken 
on a charge at full run, at twenty minutes past one o’clock. Anxious 
to wave up the whole column, with the view of entering the citadel 
pell-mell with the retreating enemy, I called for^ jgplors. The Pal¬ 
metto flag was the first reported, to me, andjby my orders Lieutenant 
Selleck, of the South Carolina regiment, then on my staff as ordnance 
oflicer, was ordered to display that flag on the Garita. In doing so 
he was severely wounded. About the same time the flag of the rifle 
i regiment was displayed on the other side of the aqueduct. The 
small national flag referred to by Colonel Roberts did not meet my 
eye. If it was with the regiment on this charge, it must have passed 
into the gate about the same time, hut was not displayed there. No 
flag was regularly planted at this point hut that of the Palmetto regi¬ 
ment, and tliat was done, not for idle ceremony, hut as a signal to 
the whole army that the gates of the Sacred City” were in our pos¬ 
session. The brave officers and men, and the gallant rival regiments, 
who had participated in this glorious achievement, were too well 
aware that there was yet too much work before them, to waste time in 
mere ceremony. 

After an arduous day, under the very guns of the citadel and adja¬ 
cent batteries, resisting repeated hold attempts of the enemy to dis¬ 
lodge us, the night was consumed in constructing and mounting for¬ 
midable batteries at the Garita, (CC,) to operate on the enemy’s works 
in the morning. 

At break of day on the morning of the 14th a white flag announced 
the surrender of the enemy’s stronghold, the citadel, (D.) After 
sending forward Lieutenants Beauregard and Lovell of my staff, both 
wounded, to guard against treachery, I put the column in motion. 
General Smith’s brigade in front, leaving the South Carolina regiment 
much crippled and reduced in numbers, their brave commander. Major 
Gladden, severely wounded at the Garita, and Captain R. G. M. 
Donovant in command, as a garrison at that important point. On 
entering the citadel the second Pennsylvania regiment (Colonel Geary) 
was there left in garrison to secure and protect this key of the city. 

I do not recollect seeing the flag in question at the citadel. Captain 
Crittenden then received permission to display the colors of his regi¬ 
ment on that strong work, and if requested by Captain Roberts, which 
I do not now remember, I doubt not I extended the same courtesy to 
his flag. 

From this point my command, led by General Smith and myself on 
foot, General Shields having been severely wounded the preceding 
day, marched through some of the principal streets of the city, the 
rifles in front, to the grand plaza, where the column was halted, the 
troops occupying two sides of the square in front of the national 
palace, as designated on the plot in red. 

After entering the palace in person for a few moments, anxious to 
impress the immense multitude of Mexicans who were looking down 
on the spectacle from the balconies, windows and roofs of houses, with 
the importance of the ceremony, I directed the column to he wheeled 
into line, formed and dressed, with officers to the front, for the pur¬ 
pose of saluting the proud flag of our country so soon as it should he 



16 


• GENERAL QUITMAN^S STATEMENT. 

displayed from the flagstaff over the palace, and at the same time 
directed my principal staff officer, Lieutenant M. Lovell, to have the 
standard of our country, the stars and stripes, and not any regimental 
colors, placed on the flagstaff over the palace. While these move¬ 
ments were -going on I saw the colors of the rifle regiment carried for¬ 
ward by some officer intO«fi^<^ great entranpe^ of fli^ palace, g-nd h^re 
I could check the movement that flag was waved for a mom'ent from 
the balcony of the second story of that building. 

My staff officer having selected Captain Koberts to place our na¬ 
tional colors over the Mexican palace, that officer proceeded immedi¬ 
ately to execute the duty, and used for that purpose the small flag 
alluded to. When this symbol of our country’s dominion over the 
enemy’s capitol was run up and floated proudly from its staff, arms 
were presented by the whole line, salutes offered by the officers, and 
regimental colors lowered. 

The small flag in question remained floating for about half an hour, 
when General Worth, who had advanced from the St. Cosme road to 
the Alameda, had the kindness to send me a larger stand of national 
colors ; the same which, I understood, had floated over Fort Brown, 
on the Rio Grande, while its small but gallant garrison were besieged 
there awaiting the return of General Taylor. This flag, from its size 
being better suited to that jjroud position, was then, by my orders, 
substituted for the smaller flag, and remained floating over the palace 
until a new large stand of colors, made by the fair hands of American 
ladies in Mexico, was, by my orders, under the direction of Captain 
Naylor, of the Pennsylvania volunteers, who had acted most gallantly 
at the Garita, and been appointed Superintendent of the national pa¬ 
lace, planted on the capitol and there floated in triumph, until the 
capital was evacuated by our troops on the conclusion of peace. 

Very respectfullv, your obedient servant, 

J. A. QUITMAN. 

The Chairman 

Of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, 


Washington, January 28, 1856. 

Gentlemen : In compliance with the request of your committee, as 
conveyed to me by your clerk, J. F. Callan, Esq.,‘in his note of the 
15th instant, with the accompanying resolution of the Senate and the 
letter of Colonel B. S. Roberts, that I would communicate any know¬ 
ledge I may have of the facts connected with the planting of the Ame¬ 
rican flag iqion the capitol of Mexico, I have the honor to make the 
following statement: I commanded the rifle regiment, which was a 
part of the brigade of General Smith and of the division of General 
Quitman, in the attack upon Chepultepec and the batteries leading to 
the Garita Belen by the Tacubaya causeway, on the 13th day of Sep¬ 
tember, 1847. The brigade was prolonged on the right and rear of 
the division, the rifles on the right of the brigade, and advanced to¬ 
wards the aqueduct, in the direction of the foot of the hill, near where 



COLONEL LORING’S STATEMENT. 


17 


the aqueduct leaves it. Here were the principal batteries of the ene¬ 
my on this side of Chepultepec, referred to in the different reports of 
the general officers engaged. This movement also brought the rifles 
to the right of the storming party of Quitman's division. In the final 
attack upon these batteries the rifles ^ere engaged; in company with 
th^storm§i*s* -As far a,s could be seeriVlong the line, there appeared 
i a general and combined movement, so rapid and enthusiastic that it 
was difficult to distinguish individual acts of gallantry, or the display 
of flags from batteries or breastworks. I saw no flag planted during 
the charge. The rifle flag accompanied the regiment, and upon it, 
after the charge, the rifles formed at the base of Chepultepec to pre¬ 
vent the escape of Mexicans, or to capture them and beat back the 
enemy’s force then firing upon us from the causeway. At this point 
I noticed Lieutenant Stuart and a large portion of the storming party, 
which had been detailed from the rifles for that duty. At the fall of 
Chepultepec it was expected that the stormers would join their regi¬ 
ment, and those who did so, as a matter of course, became a part of 
my command, and were with the rest of the regiment in it§ charge 
upon the next battery, about half way between Chepultepec and the 
city. Soon after reaching the aqueduct General Quitman instructed 
me to move forward upon the causeway, in the direction of the next 
battery. In our- advance movements from here, I frequently received 
instructions from this general in person, before which all orders had 
come to me from General Smith.—(See report of General Smith, dated 
city of Mexico, September 19, 1847.) The rifles charged and carried 
the middle battery by storm ; I saw no flag planted, but saw that of 
the rifles immediately after it had passed the battery in the charge. 
I saw every individual who had passed over the breastwork before me, 
and had there been a flag planted, up to this time, I should have seen 
it. Had it occurred, the honor would have belonged to the rifles, as 
this regiment was in advance when the battery was carried. 

From this point the rifles in advance continued a rapid pursuit of 
the retreating column to a distance of about one hundred and fifty 
yards from the Garita Belen, and about one mile from Chepultepec. 
A large force of the enemy was here discovered approaching on our 
right, under cover of some houses, for the purpose of outflanking us. 
The rifle regiment was here halted to await supporting forces, and an 
officer was sent to General Smith with information of the movement 
of the flanking party. The rifle regiment held this force in check, 
although exposed to their fire and that of the battery at the Garita, 
until Drum’s battery opened upon them. It was immediately after 
that, being at the head of my regiment, I was joined by General 
Quitman, who was in the act of giving me instructions, when I lost 
an arm by a shot from the Garita Belen, and was carried to the rear 
by order of that general. The following are the names of the officers 
who were with the regiment in its operations: Captains John S. 
Simonson, Andrew Porter, J. B. Backenstor, S. Tucker, Lieutenants 
George McLane, R. M. Morris, J. P. Hatch, G. Granger, J. N. 
Palmer, Alfred Gibbs, James Stuart, and F. Russell. Captain George 
B. Crittenden joined from detached service soon after the middle bat¬ 
tery was carried. 


18 


MAJOR Crittenden’s statement. 


I have endeavored, as briefly as possible, to relate to you my obser¬ 
vations on that day in connexion with the subject of your inquiry, in 
doing which I have been obliged, with some degree of detail, to enter 
into- the movements of my regiment, with which I acted throughout. 

I have the honor to he, very respjactfully, your obedient servant, . 

’ .W. W. LORING, 

Brevet Colonel TJ. S. Army. 

To the honorable the Committee on Military Affairs 

Of the Senate of the United States. 


Washington City, D. C., January 28, 1856. 

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a communi¬ 
cation from your clerk, enclosing a resolution of the Senate, and a copy 
of the letter of Captain B. S. Koherts, of the rifles, in which I am 
requested to communicate to the committee any knowledge I may have 
of the ‘^facts’" connected with the planting of the American flag upon 
the capitol of Mexico. 

Few words will suffice to convey to you my knowledge of the facts 
connected with that event. On the evening of the 12th of September, 
1847, I, then a captain in the regiment of mounted riflemen, was de¬ 
tached with my company on a special duty, and did not again join the 
regiment on the loth, the day of the battle of Chepultepec, and of the 
attack upon the city of Mexicq, until Chepultepec, the five gun-battery 
at its base, and the battery half way between it and the G-arita Belen 
had been carried. From this point the rifle regiment, commanded and 
led by our gallant Major, now Colonel, Boring, and forming the head 
of General Quitman’s division, to which it had been assigned prepar¬ 
atory to the attack upon Chepultepec, continued to advance along the 
arches of the aqueduct towards the Garita Belen, until we reached a 
point, where the enemy, from some huts which they occupied on the 
right of the acqueduct, obtained a flank fire upon us. Here the regi¬ 
ment was halted, whilst two pieces of artillery, commanded h}^ Captain 
Drum, advanced from the rear and were placed ^Gn battery” against 
the huts. About this time. Colonel Boring, whilst in consultation 
with General Quitman, at the head of the column, was badly wounded 
and borne from the field, thus devolving upon me, as next in rank, 
there present, the command of the regiment of riflemen, of which fact 
I informed General Quitman, upon his inquiry, and received orders 
accordingly. The enemy were soon driven from the huts on our right, 
when Captain Drum’s guns were turned upon the Garita Belen, and 
the advance again commenced. The enemy being observed to waver 
at the Garita battery, a simultaneous rush was mad-e from the length 
of the arches and the Garita was carried. General Quitman was liere, 
as elsewhere, on that day, conspicuous for his gallantry. A short time 
after crossing the Garita, my attention was drawn to a flag displayed 
from the Garita battery, which I then understood, and now believe to 
have been the flag of the South Carolina regiment. I have no recollec- 



19 


MAJOR Crittenden’s statement. 

tion of seeing any other flag displayed from there. My own impression 
is, that wdien this flag was displayed from the battery, the flag of the 
rifle regiment had already been borne across the G-arita on the left of 
the aqueduct, and into a stone building, the custom-house, on the.city 
side of it, which the rifle regiment 0 Q„cupied after crossing. We con¬ 
tinued in possession of the position which we had gained at the Garita, 
under a heavy fire and with considerable loss, until the morning of 
the 14th, when a little after daylight, the enemy sent to General 
Quitman a white flag, stating that the Mexican army had, during the 
night, withdrawn from the city. General Quitman immediately 
formed his division—the rifle regiment in advance—and marched for- 
w'ard as far as the citadel, where we were halted, when I asked, and 
obtained of General Quitman, permission to plant the flag of my regi¬ 
ment upon the citadel. It was according sent and displayed from 
there, and I think was the only one so displayed, during our halt 
there of about half an hour. Again w^e advanced—the rifle regiment 
at the head of the column—upon the grand plaza. Before reaching it 
I gave directions that, upon our arrival there the flag of the regiment 
should be detached, and, if possible, displayed from the palace, which 
fronts upon the plaza. Accordingly, shortly after we reached the 
plaza, the flag of the regiment was displayed from the palace, when 
General Smith approached and censured me for having allowed the 
flag to leave the regiment, remarking that the national flag should 
have been first displayed. The regimental flag was immediately 
recalled and replaced by the national flag. 

Tliese are all the facts of which I am cognizant, connected with the 
planting of the first American flag upon the capitol of Mexico. 

With much respect, your obedient servant, 

G. B. CRITTENDEN, 

Major Regiment Mounted Rifles. 

To the Cjn\iRMAN of the Committee on 

Military Affairs of the United. States Senate. 


Washington, D. C., February 26, 1S56. 
Sm : Complying with the request of your committee, communicated 
to me through your clerk, accompanied by a resolution of the Senate, 
and a copy of the letter of Captain B. S. Roberts, of the rifles, I have 
the honor to communicate to you such facts as fell under my observa¬ 
tion, connected with the raising of flags at the battle of Chepultepee, 
the storming of the intervening batteries between that place and the 
Garita de Belen, at the Garita, and within the city of Mexico.^ 

My command, the 2d Pennsylvania regiment, composed, with the 
battallion of marines, the 2d brigade of Major General Quitman’s 
division. With the exception of one company, commanded by Captain 
James Miller, which was temporarily detached and placed in that 
portion of the storming party commanded by Major Twiggs, and 
fifteen men and one commissioned officer, who, upon requisition, vol¬ 
unteered from the other companies, composed part of the command of 



20 


COLONEL GEAEY^S STATEMENT. 


Captain Reynolds, to bear, in aid of the storming parties, scaling 
ladders, axes, &c. Of these fifteen, ten were either killed or severely 
wounded. My regiinent moved, under orders communicated to me 
personally hy General Quitman, with General Shields’ brigade, from 
;>'our position in.advance of Tacuha-y^t; almost in a direct line across the 
marshy fields in front of the castle of Chepultepec. This cjharge was 
a sort of Lodi affair, our troops being within the range of every gun 
upon the south side of tlie castle and of the batteries at its base. When 
within fifty yards of the wall, I was struck with a hall, which caused 
a severe and painful contusion. Upon reaching the outer wall I 
directed my regiment to proceed around the left of the wall under the 
temporary command of Major (afterwards Lieutenant Colonel) Brindle, 
who gallantly led it into the castle, Avhere I joined it again, and 
resumed the comma*nd before the American flag was raised upon the 
main flag-staff of the castle. Upon several parts of the fortress i 
observed a number of flags belonging to different corps of the army, 
amongst which was one belonging to a company of my own regiment. 
Owing to the haste with which it was organized and embarked for 
Mexico, my command was not at that time supplied with regimental 
colors, consequently a flag, which belonged to one of the companies, 
was used by the regiment when required. The first flag which entered 
the five-gun battery at the base of Chepultepec, was that which was 
carried by the assaulting ])arty which stormed the work, and I have 
no doubt but that it was the flag in question. 

General Quitman having previously communicated to me his de¬ 
sign of attacking the Garita de Belen immediately after the capture 
of Chepultepec, and being myself desirous to expedite his intentions, 
I formed my command iivstantly while inside of the walls of the cas¬ 
tle, and marched out, I believe, the first body of men which left the 
fortress ; and while tlie regiment was descending the hill towards the 
city, the commander-inrchief was ascending to the castle. After be¬ 
ing replenished with ammunition at the gate of the fortress, near the 
five-gun battery, we passed on Avith the column under the command 
of General Quitman, who at all times Avas with its front, to the attack 
of the battery midAvay upon the causeway between Chepultepec and 
the Garita de Belen. At that place I did not see any flag raised, nor 
do I think any Avas planted there, but if there had been, that honor 
could certainly have been obtained by the rifles, as that regiment Avas 
slightly in the advance, but owing to the celerity of the movements 
of the different commands, and the enthusiasm and emulation Avhich 
prevailed amongst them, but a very brief period elapsed betAveen their 
arrival at the same points, so much so, indeed, tliat it Avas exceedingly 
difficult to distinguish individual acts of gallantry from those in 
Avhich the Avhole division shared equally. I cannot forbear to men¬ 
tion the fact, that, at this battery, I saw General Shields, and 
although he was severely wounded, as the troops passed him, he 
cheered them onward to a glorious victory.” 

Having passed that battery and re-organized his division. General 
Quitman ordered its adAuince upon the Garita de Belen, and it moved 
steadily forAvard, under a terrible cannonade from the Garita, the 
citadel, and the surrounding batteries, along the blood-stained cause- 


COLONEL Geary’s statement. 21 

way, until we arrived at a point where we received a flank fire from 
the enemy, who were sheltered by a number of houses on the right of 
tlie aqueduct; there was also, in addition to the severe fire of artillery 
maintained upon the front of our column, a galling lire of musketry 
from about five thousand of the enemy’s infantry, stationed in the 
citadel and upon the Paseo, inside of the walls .pf the city on our left. 
There the column halted until two pieces of artillery, under Captain 
Drum, were brought forward and placed in battery against the houses 
on the right, from the shelter of which the enemy were soon driven. 
The final charge was then made, and after a sanguinary struggle the 
Garita was captured. Immediately upon its capture, I saw the gal¬ 
lant commander of our division waving a handkerchief, fixed upon a 
rifle, from the parapet of the gate. After many of the troops had 
arrived within the walls, General Quitman announced the fact 
that we were then in the city of Mexico, and were the first American 
troops who had passed its ramparts. Standing near the general at 
that moment, he asked General Smith and myself to note the time, 
which was tiueiity minutes past one o'clock, p. m., and then he re¬ 
marked, ‘Gvhoever survives the action should remember that fact.” 
Previous to this time I had observed no colors raised at the Garita; 
General Quitman then called for colors, which he was desirous to have 
raised as a symbol of victory over the Garita, for the benefit of the 
other portions of the American army. Lieutenant Selleck, of the Pal¬ 
metto regiment, then acting as one of the general’s staff officers, 
brought forward the colors of that regiment, and with the assistance 
of Captain Charles Naylor, of my regiment, placed them above the 
aqueduct in the Garita; while holding the flag in that position 
Lieutenant Selleck was severely wounded. This was on the right of the 
aqueduct. I did not see any other flag regularly raised there during 
the afternoon of that day. The rifle regiment occupied a stone build¬ 
ing on the left of the aqueduct—the custom-house for that side of the 
city. I was afterAvards informed some colors were there dis})layed, 
but I cannot say at what time. It is proper to remark that after tli® 
taking of the Garita, some of the guns there captured were turned 
on the enemy by Captain Drum, (4th artillery,) and when many of 
his company had fallen, their ranks were in part filled by men from 
my command, who worked the pieces until that gallant officer wms 
killed at the side of liis guns. During the afternoon, Avhilp we lay 
under the fire of about twenty pieces of artillery, and a severe dis¬ 
charge of musketry, several daring and bold attempts were made by 
the enemy to sally from tlieir strong fortifications and drive us from 
our position inside the Garita, partially sheltered by a number of or¬ 
namental trees and a few dilapidated walls; but they were repulsed 
Avith great loss on their part, and several of their batteries Avere 
silenced. In this latter serAuce Captains Loesier, Naylor, Humphreys 
and Taylor, of my command, Avere signally distinguished. No time 
Avas lost on the part of General Quitman, Avho had from the beginning 
to the end been in the thickest of the fight, in making preparations 
for assaulting the citadel upon the morning of the 14th. Several bat¬ 
teries AA^ere erected by us during the night, and the forces under his 
command were assigned to their particular duties—mine to assist in 


22 


COLONEL GEARy’S STATEMENT. 


the erection of the batteries, to protect our right from attack during 
the night on the Piedad road, and to command the storming party on 
the left in the contemplated attack of the citadel in the morning. 

Early on the morning of the 14th of September, when everything 
was in readiness, and every corps awaiting orders to storm the citadel, 
a white flag was sent from that fortress to Gieneral Quitman, the 
hearers of which gave information to him that the city was being 
evacuated by the Mexican troops; whereupon Greneral Quitman imme¬ 
diately formed his division and marched into the city, where our na¬ 
tional flag was first displayed upon the palace of Mexico by his orders, 
having first left the South Carolina regiment in i)ossession of the Ga- 
rita de Belen, and assigned the second Pennsylvania regiment, under 
my command, for the garrison of the citadel, a place of great strength 
and importance, with orders to put it, without delay, in a condition 
for defence, and be as vigilant as tliough in the immediate presence of 
tlie enemy, adding ^Ghat upon the preservation of this stronghold 
might depend the safety of the whole command.” 1 have no recol¬ 
lection of seeing any flag placed upon the citadel before the one in 
possession of my regiment was placed there, which was done as soon 
as I received orders to occupy that fortress. 

In the attack and capture of the castle of Chepultepec and the city 
of Mexico, the breast of every one engaged in those unequal and ter¬ 
rible encounters was almost equally exposed, the shot and other mis¬ 
siles of the enemy often falling with more dire effect upon those mid¬ 
way and in the rear of the attacking columns than upon tliose in 
front. So many were conspicuous for their gallantry and good con¬ 
duct, that it would, in my opinion, be difficult to discriminate between 
them, inasmuch as the signal successes of that day resulted from the 
combined force of the whole column that participated in that stern 
contest wliich terminated so gloriously, and shed unfading lustre upon 
American arms, in the capture of the city of Mexico. Successes of 
individual gallantry are often but the results of the combined action 
of the whole army. Honor sufficient was obtained to satisfy the am¬ 
bition of any reasonable man who participated in tliose brilliant vic¬ 
tories, and in which the gallant deady whose blood enriches the soil, 
and whose bones whiten the plains of Mexico, should most largely 
share, for without them we could not have succeeded. 

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JNO.* W. GEARY, 

Late Colonel Second, Begiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

Hon. John B. Weller, 

Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. 


Washington, H. G., January 2\, 1850. 

Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a letter, sent 
by direction of the committee, requesting such information a.,s I may 
possess in relation to the planting of the American flag upon the 
palace of the capitol of Mexico, &c., and enclosing a copy of a letter 
from Colonel B. S. Roberts, of the rifles, to General Twiggs ; as also 



CAPTAIN LOVELL^S STATEMENT. 


23 


a copy of a proposed Senate resolution ‘ ^ tliat an engrossed copy of 
said letter be deposited in the Department of State with the flag 
whose history it gives, and which has already been deposited in said 
department by order of the Senate/' 

^ During the occurrence of the events alluded to in the above men¬ 
tioned letter, ...Colonel Rollerts was under the command of Major 
General J. A. Quitman, and as I was the chief of staff to this officer, 
and an eye-witness to most of the transactions which took place, I 
feel competent to give an accurate account of the whole affair. 

General Quitman’s command during these events consisted of 
Smith’s brigade of regulars, the volunteer division, in which was in¬ 
cluded the battalion of marines, the 9th infantry of Pierce’s brigade, 
and a part of the 6th infantry. On the 12th of September, 1847, the 
day previous to the storming of Chepultepec, a detachment of 250 
men from General Twiggs’ division was reported to General Quitman 
for duty as stormers. In this temporarily organized battalion, com¬ 
manded by Captain S. Casey, 2d infantry. Captain Roberts’ company 
acted as the color company,” the colors being the small American 
flag referred to, and which it was understood had been in the posses¬ 
sion of General Twiggs. 

On the 13th of September this battalion, in connexion with a bat¬ 
talion from the volunteer division, performed its duty gallantly in the 
assault upon the work at the base of Chepultepec, its commander 
(Casey) being wounded, and the command then devolving upon Cap¬ 
tain Paul, 7th infantry.—(See General Quitman’s report of these 
operations.) 

I have no recollection of the planting of any flag upon that work, 
but little attention being attracted to it, as the raising of our colors 
upon Chepultepec itself superseded and rendered unnecessary the 
raising of particular flags upon the adjuncts of that great work. 

The different detachments composing this battalion of stormers then 
joined their respective regiments, and the command proceeded to the 
assault of the various batteries between it and the citadel of Mexico. I 
do not recollect seeing Captain Roberts or “the flag” again through¬ 
out that day. lie says in his letter that he was “detained to guard 
the prisoners taken at the five-gun battery.” 

No flag was planted upon the battery between Cliepultepec and the 
Garita, the troops in advance sweeping over it without halting, it 
being merely a point in our main progress. Nor was “this flag” the 
first planted upon the batteries at the Garita, or on the citadel of 
Mexico. Colonel Roberts was certainly misinformed in regard to these 
transactions. 

A handkercliief wi ved by General Quitman was the first symbol of 
victory at the bloody Garita, and a call by the general for colors was 
answered by Lieutenant Selleck, of the South Carolina regiment, (since 
dead,) Avho, in placing tlie colors of his regiment upon the Garita, 
received a severe wound. I have understood that the rifle colors were 
displayed much about the same time on the other side of the aqueduct, 
but I did not see them. 

On the following morning (the enemy having evacuated the city 
during the night) we marched into the citadel at daybreak. The 


24 


CAPTAIN LOVELL’S FTATEMENT. 

column was halted a few moments, and the 2d Pennsylvania regiment 
(Colonel Geary) was detailed to occupy this fortress as its garrison. 
Whilst this was being done, Captain Crittenden, of the rifles, applied 
for and received permission from General Quitman to run up the rifle 
regiment flag for a few moments over this strong citadel. 

The column under General Quitman’s command then inpved on to 
the grand plaza (the rifles in advance) where it was halted. The 
troops, in column of companies, were in the position of ordered 
arms,” and at a parade rest” occupying two sides of the square in 
front of the palace. 

After remaining a few moments in this position. General Quitman 
directed me to have our colors placed on the flag-statf over the palace, 
saying, ^^let it be our national colors, the stars and stripes, not the 
particular colors of any regiment.” Looking along the line, I ob¬ 
served hut two national flags, one of which was with the New York 
regiment, at the further end of the line, the other much nearer to me, 
with Captain Roberts’ company of the rifles. I told him to have this 
flag put up on the staff above the palace, and he proceeded at once 
witli a file of men to do so, in obedience to the order received from 
the general through myself. 

While he was thus engaged the troops were Avheeled into line, 
officers ordered to the front, and when the flag was raised, arms were 
presented by command of General Quitman in person. 

The above is the simple history of this transaction, and it would 
seem to me, that according to all military rule and precedent, what¬ 
ever of credit or honor may be held to attach to the ceremony above 
narrated, is due to the senior officer (as representing his command) 
under whose immediate orders and direct personal supervision the 
Avhole transaction took ])lace. On this point I coincide with the views 
expressed by Colonel Roberts in the last paragraph of his letter to 
the editor of the Union, dated St. Louis, Missouri, July 12, 1848. 

I will add, that just before the national flag was displayed from the 
staff, an oflicer of the rifles waved the colors of his regiment from the 
balcony of the second story windows of the palace, a circumstance 
which did not receive the approval of the general commanding the 
division. 

I remain, with much respect, sir, your obedient servant, 

M. LOVELL. 

The Chairman 

Of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs. 


Washington, U. C., February 26, 1856. 

Gentlemen : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
clerk’s communication of the 15th ultimo, enclosing a copy of Captain 
Roberts’ letter to General Twiggs of the 17th September, 1847, and 
a resolution of the Senate, and concluding Avith the request that I 
'‘will communicate to you any knowledge I may have of the jrlant- 
ing of the American flag upon the palace of Mexico,” &c. 



CAPTAIN NAYLOR'S STATEMENT. 


25 


As captain of company F, second regiment of Pennsylvania volun¬ 
teers, I participated in the conquest of Mexico and in most of the spe¬ 
cific movements to which the letter of Captain Roberts refers. I 
'' might reply to your communication by stating that I saw, upon the 
days covering the occasions spoken of by Captain Roberts, no Ameri¬ 
can —that qs to say^ no national —flag anywhere, either raised or un- 
^ais^ so"ffi-r as I can remember. But as this would not properly 
answer your inquiry, nor do justice to the subject, I havq no alterna¬ 
tive other than to state, as briefly as possible, what did take place, so 
far as I saw, and can remember or have knowledge. 

' On the morning of the 13th of September, 1847, the assault was 
; made on the castle (as it was termed) and works of Chepultepec. I 
' belonged to the division of Major General Quitman, and moved with 
I my command, on the right of my regiment, from the village of Tacu- 
i baya, along the main road leading to the city of Mexico, some dis- 
i tance, where we received directions from General Quitman to diverge 
from the road, cross the meadows directly in front of the castle, and 
move, with all possible dispatch, against the works of the enemy. 
The order was given us by the general personally, in the midst of a 
very severe fire, he pointing out to us with his sword the place where 
he wished us to strike the outer work of the enemy. 

In executing the order we were obliged to wade through a succes¬ 
sion of ditches upwards of five feet in depth, filled with water, and 
from ten to twelve feet in width. Upon gaining the wall of the works 
we (the Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and New York regiments) re¬ 
formed our commands, scaled the wall, pushed up the hill, and, in 
conjunction with the other assaulting troops, stormed the inner works 
and took the castle. In doing this we were intermingled with a part 
of the command of Major General Pillow, the officers and men of the 
two divisions (Quitman’s and Pillow’s) struggling together as if in 
the same ranks. 

The works being taken, the troops of the difierent commands were 
commingled together in great confusion, and there was great exulta¬ 
tion among them. An order from General Quitman to re-form was 
received and instantly carried into effect. Two men from each com¬ 
pany were then detailed to look after and take care of the wounded, 
and our (Quitman’s) line was in readiness for the next movement. 

At this moment occurred the first flag-raising of the day. A con¬ 
fused mass of troops were assembled in the spacious area fronting and 
adjoining the castle, and at one of the windows, in the second story, 
Gen. Cadwallader appeared and commenced a speech to the troops in 
frontof him. Whilst he was speaking, some one displayed from the same 
window a flag. This was the first flag of any description I had seen 
that day. It was not an American flag, not the national flag, not the 
flag of the Union, but a flag, as I suppose, of one of the regiments or 
of one of the States. It was almost immediately taken in from the 
window, and in a few minutes thereafter was waved from the roof of 
the castle. An attempt was then made to run it up the flagstaff, but 
before it was raised, and whilst General Cadwallader was still speaking, 
General Quitman’s command was ordered to march—the word was, 
''Quitman’s division to the city”— and we moved, at once and rapidly, 

3 




26 


CAPTAIN Naylor’s statement. 


clown tlie liill of Cliepultepec^ along the main causeway towards the 
city of Mexico, leaving the castle behind us. In this movement the 
five-gun battery, mentioned in Captain Eoherts’ letter, was left on 
our right; and as I had nothing to do with the assault upon that i j 
hat^ry, and had no official connexion with it afterwards, I have no ' 
knowledge whatever of any kind about the raising of a flg^g overiji^ 

Continuing our movement rajudly along the causeway h?,a^ng 1 
the Belen gate of the city of Mexico, covering ourselves as well as we ' 
could from a very severe fire by the arches of the aqueduct, we 
assaulted the intermediate battery (mentioned in Captain Eoherts’ let¬ 
ter) between Chepultepec and the city gate. This was taken, and we ’ 
passed through it and over it, hut I saw no flag raised there, nor was 
there any attempt to raise one there, so far as I ever heard or had or 
have any knowledge. 

From this intermediate battery, as it is termed in Captain Eoherts’ 
letter, elated with success and inspired with a spirit of generous ! 
rivalry, the troops pressed onwards to the city. In no part of the war 
had I before witnessed a charge so impetuous and through a fire so [ 
severe and destructive. The officers and men of the different com¬ 
mands soon began to intermingle, each putting forth his whole f 
strength to he foremost. The gate was reached. General Quitman i 
leading, leaped the ditch, mounted the breastwork, and waved his i 
handkerchief, followed by as many of his command as could press I 
themselves to the point. The position was taken, and the capital of 
Mexico was at that moment esteemed ours. General Persifer Smith, 

I remember well, pulled out his watch and coolly remarking that we 
were now in the city of Mexico, announced the hour and the minute. 

The city had been taken at its strongest point, where it had been 
supposed impregnable, and our position within a few hundred j^'ards 
of the citadel, containing, it was supposed, nearly ten thousand men, 
anything but a pleasant one. The fire was terrific and continued 
without interruption ; and our troops were immediately set to work to 
establish themselves by throwing up such cover as their situation and 
means would afford. 

After we had been there some time,.it was suggested that a flag 
should be raised to announce our position and success to the other di¬ 
visions of the army. General Quitman ordered a flag to be raised for 
the purpose. So far as I can remember, there was no American flag 
there; there was certainly none produced or exhibited. A young 
officer, (whose name, I am sorry to say, I do not recollect,) of 
the South Carolina regiment, brought forward the Palmetto flag, 
the flag of his regiment and State, and with two of his men and 
Lieut. Wilcox (of Quitman’s staff) clambered to the top of a 
little shed adjoining the aqueduct, and upon the right of the gate 
as we enter the city, and from the top of that little shed he raised 
the Palmetto flag over the aqueduct, and there held it amid a tremen¬ 
dous fire, provoked for a time into increased severity upon that point 
by the display of the flag. There being no means to secure the flag 
in its place. General Quitman ordered it down; but before this could 
be done the gallant officer who had planted and held it was shot. I 
aided in getting him down. One of the two men who had charge of 







CAPTAIN Naylor’s statement. 


27 


the flag when his offlcer was wounded, was himself shot just as he 
I leaped down from the shed, and he fell, with the flag in his hand, by 
j the side of General Quitman, who was at this time in a greatly ex- 
! posed position, smoking a cigar, as was his custom,—and inspiring the 
breasts of all around him with his own cheerful daring, unpreten¬ 
tious heroism, and confident security of an immediate, glorious, and 
j final triumph. ' 

I No event of that day, with its subordinate surroundings, is more 
I distinctly remembered by me than the flag-raising at the Garita de 
' Belen. There are many circumstances, besides those herein stated, 
fixing it so strongly and definitely upon my mind, that I feel I cannot 
' he mistaken. And it is due to the truth of history, since the Senate 
have thought proper to make it the subject of inquiry, that it should 
be accurately and definitely stated exactly as it took place. As far as 
my remembrance serves me, I have endeavored so to state it. What¬ 
ever may be the value of the statement, in other respects, it is certainly 
disinterested. 

I know of no other flag planted at the gate of Belen on the 13th of 
September, 1847, than the one I have just mentioned. There certainly 
was no American flag planted there or visible there on .that day. 

A fire of the most destructive severity was continued upon us, without 
intermission, the whole afternoon, and the remaining strength of his 
little and fast-diminishing command was sorely taxed, under our cool, 
cheerful, indefatigable, and most gallant general, in the maintenance 
of his position and the preparation for the final overthrow of the 
citadel and city at the dawn of the next morning. In repelling our 
enemy’s assaults, taking their batteries and assailing points, driving 
them from all their surrounding positions, annoying them through 
their embrasures, filling up ditches, building up works for final opera¬ 
tions, looking after the wounded thick falling around us, and laying 
aside the dead with such respect as circumstances permitted, the after¬ 
noon passed, and, at night-fall, the enemy’s fire ceased,—but with it 
came no cessation of labor, nor one minutes’ rest. 

During the whole night of the 13th and 14th of September, the 
command of General Quitman worked without interruption, in throw¬ 
ing up breastworks, getting up guns, ammunition, &c., preparatory 
I for storming the citadel at daylight, on the morning of the 14th. 

I From this, however, exhausted aS we were by disease, hunger, bat- 
j tie, privation, and labor protracted incessantly for days and nights 
! previous, we were glad to be relieved, at the gray of the dawn of the 
morning, (when all our dispositions had been made for the assault,) 
by the appearance of two men, a Mexican commission, bearing a 
white flag, and delivering to General Quitman the keys of the citadel, 
and giving the intelligence of the silent retreat of the enemy, then 
leaving the city. 

Our general, having first satisfied himself that no treachery was 
intended, and leaving the South Carolina regiment at^ the Garita, 
marched his division into the citadel, and after a brief halt, the 
Second Pennsylvania regiment (commanded by Lieutenant Colonel 
Geary) to which I belonged, was left to garrison the place. General 
Quitman then, with the balance of his command, marched into the 
heart of the city and took possession of the National palace. 




28 


CAPTAIN Naylor’s statement. 

The moment he was assigned the honor of garrisoning the citadel^ 
Colonel Geary caused the flag of his regiment, the Pennsylvania flag, 
to he run up on the flag-staff. This was the first flag, and only flag, 
I remember to have seen raised over the citadel on that day, and this 
was the flag of Pennsylvania. I am certain that no American flag 
was so raised. Yet I have some indistinct r 
flag of the rifles somewhere about the citadel. 

Thus left as part of the garrison of the citadel, I personally, from 
my own observation, know nothing of the raising of the American 
flag over the palace. 

On the morning of the 17th of September I was detached, from my 
regiment, to take charge of the palace, and a large American flag was 
then floating over it. 

It was old, nearly worn out, fast going to pieces ; had graced most 
of our Mexican triumphs, and I supposed it to he, at the time, the 
first American flag which had been raised there. Anxious to pre¬ 
serve it, on the 30th of September I reported its condition to General 
Quitman and asked for an order for a new one. The order was given. 
A new one of the largest size, 40 feet fly and 20 feet hoist, was made, 
and, on the 15th of October, it was raised and continued from that time 
to float over the palace till the day of our evacuation of the city, the 
12th. of June, 1848. 

The old flag, by order of General Quitman, I sent to General Worth; 
and I was then informed by the latter, that the old flag, thus delivered 
l)y me, to him, had been sent, by him, to General Quitman on the morn¬ 
ing of the 14th September, he understanding that General Quitman, 
though taking the palace, had no suitable flag to raise over it. 

Upon my reporting to General Quitman that I had executed his 
orders, he gave me, for the first time, an account of the first flag¬ 
raising, and of some difficulty he had in procuring an American flag 
for the purpose. He stated that an attempt was made, among others, 
to raise the flag of the rifles, and that he prevented it, on the ground 
that no other but an American flag—the flag of the Union—should 
be raised over the national palace of the conquered capital to repre¬ 
sent an AmericoM triumph. In this he finally succeeded,—and my im¬ 
pression was, at the time, that the first American flag ever run up the 
flag-staff of the palace WSLS the large one, I have spoken of, as returned 
by me to General Worth. 

It is certain, I believe, that when General Quitman took the palace 
he encountered some delay, or had some slight difficulty, to find a 
flag for it. This fact, itself, is illustrative of the history of the war 
and of the success of our arms. In plain truth, the nature of our 
business and the exigencies, every moment pressing upon us, were such, 
that flags could not be carried nor displayed. For the pomp and 
parade of war, if such things ever are, there was surely no room there. 
The men who won Mexico carried the flags of their country in their 
hearts, and they planted them, invisible, upon every rampart they 
mounted, and on every field where they left their blood or their lives. 

It is also certain, with respect to the first flag on the palace— 
whether the flag of the rifles, the small American flag referred to by 
Captain Eoberts, or the large garrison flag of General Worth’s— 
whichever it was, it was raised by order of General Quitman, who, 


ecollection of vseeii^^i^ 




CAPTAIN NAYLOU’S STATEMENT. 


29 


with a little column of exhausted men Avho had been on continued 
duty hy day and night since the 11th—stormed the capital at its 
strongest defences, first marched into its heart, and took the palace, 
representative of its empire. 

By his order (when the battle was won and any hand could do the 
(h^d) the American flag Avas floated over the palace ; and if this act 
^ftln,^by. any possibility, reflect any distinctive glory upon any one, or 
any branch of the army in particular more than another, it should 
he shared hy all whom he had the honor to lead, and above all and 
especially^ hy him whom they had the honor to follow. But, in sober 
truth, and common justice, and sound soldierly feeling, it should be 
shared by the Avhole army alike, for it was the consummation of the 
eflbrts and sufferings of the Avhole army, alike united, under the 
greatest of captains, to that end. If it fell, as it did, to the gallant 
Quitman and his command to be the first to reach the national palace, 
it Avas as much the result of their opportunity as of their merit. 

General Quitman is able, I presume, to designate the flag first 
raised, and thus settle the question beyond dispute and forever. 

The neAv flag, made by his order, Avas taken down by me, for the 
last time, on the 12th of June, 1848, the day of the evacuation of the 
city of Mexico, and was forAvarded to Adjutant General Jones, United 
States army, and was, for some years thereafter, exhibited in the 
exhibition room of the National Institute at Washington. A section 
of the flag staff of the palace was also sent him by me, and is now to 
be seen in the room of the National Institute. Keports were sent Avith 
both the flag and the flag staff, and are, I presume, now on file in the 
Adjutant General’s office. 

1 have entered somewhat into detail in this communication, rendered 
necessary to be intelligible, and because the letter of Captain Roberts 
coA^ered almost the whole of our movements of the 13th and 14th of 
September, 184T, and laid claim for an especial and more comprehen- 
sive distinction, for a particular flag, than the facts of the case, so far 
as I saw, by any means Avarranted. 

With great respect, I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 

CHARLES NAYLOR. 


Hon. John B. Weller, 

Chairman Committee on Military Affairs of the Senate. 


CAPTAIN NAYLOR’S SUPPLEMENT. 

To the Honorable John B. Weller, 

Chairman of the Military Committee of the Senate: 

Since submitting my letter of the 26th ultimo I feel it my duty to 
add, by way of supplement, the following correspondence relating to 
the subject of your inquiry. 

It seems to me due to the memory of our country’s gallant dead, 
and it may be necessary for the elucidation of the truth of our flag¬ 
raising history, &c.: at all events it is a part of the history of the 
subject, recorded as it were by daguerreotype, as it occurred from day 
to day. The correspondence, it Avill be perceived, relates to two palace 




30 


CAPTAIN Naylor’s statement. 


flags, which were termed the old and the new, and so blends the 
history of them together as to make it necessary to give the whole 
correspondence, which I do, chronologically, in the order of its oc¬ 
currence. 

On the day of its date I sent the following letter to General Quit- 
man : 

National Palace, 

Mexicoj September 30, ISdT. 

Sir: Our flag, I regret to state, is nearly worn out; I am obliged 
to have its rents sewed up every night; it is daily diminishing in 
length and thus losing its proportions. I wmuld respectfully recom¬ 
mend that a new one he made, of the same size, preserving its original 
proportions. If it meet your approbation I will have one manufac¬ 
tured at once,—if the material can he procured here. 

^^With the greatest respect, I am, very truly, your obedient servant, 

^/CHARLES NAYLOR, 
^^Superintendent of National Palace, 

Major General Quitman, 

Civil and Military GovernorP 

The foregoing letter (endorsed Approved—J. A. Quitman, Major 
General and Governor, October 2, 1847,’’) was returned to me enclosed 
in the following: 

Office of the Civil and Military Governor, 

National Palace, October 2, 1847. 

^‘Captain : I have the honor to transmit to you your requisition upon 
the governor as to a new national flag for the use of the palace, ap¬ 
proved by him. You are, therefore, at liberty to procure one at your 
earliest convenience. 

With great respect and esteem, vour obedient servant, 

^‘GEO. T. M. DAVIS, Secretary: 

Captain Charles Naylor, 

^^Superintendent, &c.. National Palace.’’ 

On the day of its date the following letter was handed General 
Quitman: 


National Palace, Mexico, October 15, 1847. 

General : The new national flag is finished. It is of the largest 
size, 40 by 20 English feet, and its proportions are in exact con¬ 
formity with the regulations of the United States upon the subject. 
It was made by Mrs. Louisa Baker, an American lady from the United 
States, now resident in Mexico ; and she has made it in the most 
substantial and beautiful manner. I propose raising it at once. 

With great respect, I am, very truly, your obedient servant, 

CHARLES NAYLOR, 
Captain United States Army, 

Superintendent of National Palace. 

“ Major General Quitman, 

‘‘ Civil and Military Governor.” 



31 


CAPTAIN Naylor’s statement. 

The Mrs. Louisa Baker, mentioned in the foregoing letter, was 
from Germantown, in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, and had 
lived some years in Mexico. Her husband, Benjamin Baker, also an 
American, had been banished from Mexico by Santa Anna, because 
of his Americanism, whilst our army was at Puebla, suffered much 
ij^our cause, and managed, after his banishment, to reach our head- 
quatters, and became efficient as a guide and an interpreter. Mrs. 
Baker assembled at her house all the American ladies of her acquaint¬ 
ance in Mexico to assist her in making the flag, and not a stitch 
would she permit to enter it hut what was put there by the fair fingers 
of an American woman. For want of a more competent person. 
Captains G. T. M. Davis and Lovell, of Quitman’s staff, and myself, 
cut out the stars, and pinned them in their appropriate places in the 
blue field. All else beside was done by our fair countrywomen. 

On the 15th of October, 1847^ the new flag was raised, and in the 

Daily American Star” of the next day, ‘^Saturday, October 16 , 
1847/' both the new flag and the old one was noticed, editorially,— 
which notice I have copied from a paper of that date, a part of a file 
now in my possession. .It will be seen that it speaks of both flags, 
the new and the old, and may fairly be supposed to give the feelings 
and opinions of the soldiers with regard to the latter. 

This paper was published by Peoples & Barnard.” John H. 
Peoples was a soldier and a printer. Serving as a soldier till Vera 
Cruz fell, he there established his printing press. Thence, first fight¬ 
ing and then printing, he moved with the army, setting up his press 
and issuing his American Star,” at Jalapa, Puebla, and Mexico. 
As a soldier and a printer, with his musket and his press, he was cer¬ 
tainly no bad type of American character and progress. He thus 
notices our flags, and I give his testimony: 

[From the “ Daily American Star,” Mexico, October 16,1847.] 

“NEW FLAG ON THE PALACE. 

“ Flag of the free heart’s only home, 

By angel hands to valour given, 

Thy stars have lit the welkin dome. 

And all thy hues were born in Heaven. 

‘‘A new American flag, of the very largest size, was yesterday 
raised upon the national palace, by Captain Naylor, and it now, in 
spirit-stirring magnificence^ streams out its folds to the free winds. 
There are many things beautiful in this land, afar off from our heart’s 
home, but, to us, there is nothing so afiectingly beautiful as this, our 
starry banner. We are informed that it was made by a lady from 
Philadelphia, now resident in this city. The old flag, to which it 
succeeds, was nearly worn out; it was fast frittering away. It is the 
first American flag that waved over Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Jalapa, 
Puebla, and Mexico, and represents every victory of the American 
army achieved by General Scott’s division. It is, therefore, sacred, 
and we trust, as such may be preserved.” 

John H. Peoples, the soldier-editor of the ^^Star,” who, I presume, 
wrote this notice, is dead. He was drowned in the Pacific ocean, near 



32 


CORRESPONDENCE ON FLAG. 


San Francisco, engaged in the extension of the dominion of that 
starry banner,’’ which he declared in the foregoing article, was to 
him, so ^‘affectingly beautiful.” The brave fellow had a manhood 
and a history, and I could not forbear the cold justice of giving to you 
his testimony, and to him this notice. 

On the IStti of October, 1847, I was ordered, by General Quitm^an, 
to send the old flag, thus above noticed, to General Wortji, wliick'"' 
was done, with the following letter : 

National Palace, Mexico, October 18, 1847. 

General: Herewith, by order of Major General Quitman, I send 
you the old flag which has been, till within the last few days, float¬ 
ing over the national palace. I believe that the presence of this old j 
flag has graced nearly every triumph which American valor has | 
achieved in Mexico. Representing, as it does, the glory of our arms, i 
it is fitted that its keeping should thus he committed to one whose i 
conduct and gallantry have contributed so largely to swell the volume 
of that glory. 

With the highest respect, I am, very truly, your obedient servant, ! 

CHARLES NAYLOR, | 

Captain 2d Pennsylvania Volunteers, and : 

Superintendent of National Palace. 

Major General Worth, 

United States Army. : 

To this note I received the following reply: | 

Headquarters First Division, 

Mexico, October 18, 1847. j 

My Dear Sir: I have received the flag which, on the 14th ultimo, 

I sent to my gallant friend General Quitman, ignorant that he was 
supplied with a standard to raise over the palace; that flag is now [ 
replaced by one more broadly and lordly reflecting the achievements ; 
of our arms and the glory of our country. I beg of you to accept 
my cordial acknowledgments for the very obliging manner and kind 
terms in which it has been returned, invested as it is with interesting 
associations to my soldiers, officers, and men. I 

With high respect, very truly, ! 

W. J. WORTH, I 

Brevet Major General United States Army. 

Captain Charles Naylor, 

Superintendent of National Palace. 

It was not till the receipt of this letter that I was aware that the 
flag sent by me to General Worth was his flag. I had supposed it to 
have been sent him by General Quitman as a compliment from one 
brave soldier to another; hence my letter, addressed to General 
Worth, gave the matter that turn. Upon meeting him soon after¬ 
wards, he explained the subject, as I have before stated in the body 
of my letter to your committee, viz: that he sent it to Quitman, be¬ 
cause he understood, having taken the palace, he was in want of a 




/ 

CORRESPONDENCE ON FLAG. 33 

proper flag for it. It is very evident, therefore, that, after General 
Quitman had taken the palace, he found some difficulty to procure 
colors suitable for it, having none of his own in all respects answering 
the purpose.^ What may he the merit of the man who procured these 
colors, or raised them when procured, it is not for me to determine. 
On the day of its date, I sent the following to General Quitman: 

‘‘National Palace, Mexico, 

“ October 20, 1841. 

“ General: I respectfully report to you now, what ought to have 
been reported before, that, on the morning of the 18th instant,, agree¬ 
able to an order communicated by your aid-de-camp. Lieutenant 
Lovell, I sent to General W. J. Worth the old national flag, and 
have received from him a note acknowledging the receipt of it. 

“ With the highest respect, I have the honor to be your obedient 
servant, 

“CHAELES NAYLOE, 

“ Superintendent of National Palace. 

\ “To Major General Quitman, 

‘ ‘ Civil and Military (governor.' ’ 

Pursuing, by documents, this flag history still further, with a view 
! to connect the memories of the dead with it, and to sustain the state- 
: ments of my letter, let me repeat that the flag was finally taken down 
from the palace at sunrise on the 12th of June, 1848, in the presence 
of the whole people of the city of Mexico, men, women, and children, 

I congregated in the great square, covering the roofs of the cathedral 
I and of the neighboring houses. The final direction for this purpose 
was given by Major General Worth, who, in an order addressed to 
me personally, described particularly the manner in which the flag 
was to be lowered—on the firing of the thirtieth gun, (the close of 
the salute,) and amidst the music of the “Star-spangled Banner’' 
from the whole band of his division. His personal order to me, I am 
unable, in the present confusion of my papers, to lay my hands upon; 
but give the following final order from him on the subject, addressed 
to Colonel Clarke, then commanding the brigade of the palace—now 
General Clarke—and who communicated the order to me for my 
observance, and furnished me the detail of men therein mentioned: 

“ Headquarters, First Division, 

“ Mexico, June 11, 1848. 

“ Colonel: General Worth desires that you will designate suitable 
men, acting under the direction of Captain Naylor, gradually to lower 
the flag, on the discharge of the thirtieth gun, to-morrow morning, 
when Captain Naylor will dispose of it in accordance with the orders 
already received from general headquarters. The latter must be done 
with dispatch, as the column will move in a few minutes thereafter. 

“I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

“WM. F. BAEEY, A. D. G 

“ Colonel Clarke, ^ 

“ Commanding 2d Brigade.'’ 

4 




34 


CORRESPONDENCE ON PlWf. 


I have thus followed our Americau flag history, in the city of 
Mexico, from its first planting there till our evacuation of the place. 
Truly, your obedient servant, 

CHAKLES NAYLOK. 


Washington, D. C., 3Iarch 3, 1856. 






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